Alternative Successions of The English Crown - Descendants of Mary Tudor, Queen of France

Descendants of Mary Tudor, Queen of France

Henry VIII’s Third Succession Act granted Henry the right to bequeath the Crown in his Will. His Will specified that, in default of heirs to his children, the throne was to pass to the heirs of his younger sister Mary Tudor, Queen of France, bypassing the line of his elder sister Margaret Tudor, represented by the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots. Edward VI confirmed this by letters patent. The legitimate and legal heir of Elizabeth I was therefore Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven (the marriage of Lady Catherine Grey having been annulled, and her children declared illegitimate, by Elizabeth I).

Her succession, under this theory, follows:

1. Henry VII of England
2. Mary Tudor, Queen of France, third daughter, sixth line of Henry
3. Lady Eleanor Brandon, second daughter, third line of Mary
4. Lady Margaret Clifford, only daughter, third line of Eleanor
5. Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby, first son of Margaret
6. Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven, first daughter, first line of Ferdinando
7. George Brydges, 6th Baron Chandos, first son of Anne
8. Margaret Brydges, first daughter, first line of George
9. George Brydges Skipwith, first son of Margaret
10. Elizabeth Brownlow, first daughter, second line of Margaret
11. George Brownlow Doughty, first son of Elizabeth
12. Henry Doughty, only child of George
13. Henry Doughty, only son of Henry
14. Elizabeth Doughty, only daughter of Henry Snr

Since Lady Anne Stanley’s line is thought to have become extinct with the death of Elizabeth Doughty, the line then passes to the descendants of Lady Anne's sister, Lady Frances Stanley:

1. Lady Frances Stanley, second daughter, second line of Ferdinando
2. John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, first son of Frances
3. John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater, first son of John
4. Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater, third son of John, 3rd Earl
5. Lady Anne Egerton, first daughter, fifth line of Scroop
6. George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, only child of Anne
7. George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, first son of George, 4th Earl
8. George Child Villiers, 6th Earl of Jersey, first son of George, 5th Earl
9. Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey, only son of George, 6th Earl
10. George Child Villiers, 8th Earl of Jersey, first son of Victor
11. George Child Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey, first son of George
12. Lady Caroline Child Villiers, only child of George's first marriage

Although the 9th Earl of Jersey had sons from a third marriage, he had been divorced from his first wife, who was still alive when he married his third. Under a strict adherence to the succession laws and customs as they existed in 1603, it is argued that no laws passed by Parliament since 1603 are legitimate, as the heirs did not summon those Parliaments, nor did those laws receive the royal assent to become law. Under the law as it stood in 1603, the 9th Earl of Jersey’s divorce was not valid, and therefore both his remarriage during his ex-wife's lifetime was null and void, and the children of his third marriage illegitimate. Consequently, the current holder of the Stanley claim to the throne of England is the only child of the 9th Earl’s first marriage, Lady Caroline Ogilvy (née Child Villiers). By a twist of fate her husband's family are themselves highly ranked in the (accepted) line of succession to the British throne, with Lady Caroline's nephew James Ogilvy being fortieth in line.

There is doubt of the legitimacy of Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp. Certainly James I regarded the Seymour line as legitimate, and based his own succession on his right by primogeniture, ignoring the Will of Henry VIII. However, the Seymours were placed ahead of the Stanleys in James' Line of Succession. The recent death of a one of Seymour's descendants had her, rather than Frances Stanley's descendants, listed as the heir to the Mary Tudor claim.

Her succession follows:

1. Henry VII of England
2. Mary Tudor, Queen of France, third daughter, sixth line of Henry
3. Lady Frances Brandon, first daughter, second line of Mary
4. Lady Catherine Grey, second daughter, second line of Frances
5. Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp, first son of Catherine
6. William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, second son of Edward
7. Henry Seymour, Lord Beauchamp, third son of William
8. Lady Elizabeth Seymour, only daughter, second line of Henry
9. Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesbury, second son of Elizabeth
10. Lady Mary Bruce, first daughter, third line on Charles
11. James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos, only son of Mary
12. Lady Anne Elizabeth Brydges, only child of James
13. Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, first son of Anne
14. Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, only son of Richard
15. Mary Morgan-Grenville, 11th Lady Kinloss, first daughter of Richard
16. Luis Chandos Francis Temple Morgan-Grenville, second son of Mary
17. Mary Freeman-Grenville, 12th Lady Kinloss, first daughter of Luis
18. Teresa May Nugent Freeman-Grenville, 13th Lady Kinloss, first daughter, second line of Mary

Lady Teresa's heir-presumptive is her sister Hester Josephine Anne Freeman-Grenville, who is married to Peter Haworth, and has three sons